Kristina Sipe
Ms. Darrough
World Dynamics 1 CEC
19 October 2010
The Influence of Ancient Greek Architecture in Modern Time
If you think about Greek Architecture, you may think it's boring and all you notice is the type of design it shows. There are many designs on many buildings created and built from the past. And also buildings in modern time. If you take the Parthenon building and the Lincoln Memorial and compare them you can tell that there columns are exactly alike.
It has been known that the Doric columns are the strongest of all the three types of columns used in ancient Greece. They were first designed during the seventh century BC, and they were perfected during the construction of the Parthenon, during the fifth century BC. There are typically three parts to a column, at the bottom you have the base, in the middle is the shaft, and the top is called the capital. The Doric columns are very plain looking compared to the other types of columns, but it was built for it to be strong. Either beauty or strength, you choose.
Another reason why the Parthenon and the Lincoln Memorial are alike is by what there made of. They are both made of mainly marble. Marble is cut easily and has a soft texture to the columns. When cutting the columns they used a steam-powered machine Although marble can stain and even chip, it still has held up very well.
The Parthenon and the Lincoln Memorial were built for reasons that are very similar. The Parthenon has been built to worship the Greek goddess Athena. And to tower over and represent the wealth and power the Athens contributed. The temple stood as a monument to Athena, because she believed that she had helped the Greeks conquer the Persian Empire in the Persian War. The Lincoln Memorial was built to recognize our sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln, from the effort that he fought towards the nation to preserve during the Civil War.
There are many reasons why these two buildings are similar; from shape, reasons to have been built, and materials it was made from. If you look around at all of the different kinds of monuments, tall buildings, even modern day homes, you can see that a lot of them were influenced by the Greek architecture. Greece has made a huge impact on buildings, and the creation of new homes are still using that technique, all you have to do is go out and search for them.